Six Books, One Week: A Review
I've been in a slump, my mind needs sharpening and is so thirsty. The only way I can get out of this brain retardation is to read. I know it fully, that when I read, I learn and when I learn, I feel replenished. My enemy is time. I'm a mum, so time is not so easy to carve out these days. So what to do - I dared to try a new way to consume knowledge - I subscribed to a service that provides audiobooks. This is a game changer.
No Drama Discipline by Tina Payne Bryson PhD, Daniel j. Siegel MD
My first audiobook. I picked this book because I thought it might help me engage with my little one. This was one of the most repetitive books I've come across. Essentially, the key point: Connect with your child and instead of consequences, teach your child. The other point was that you can't spoil your child by showing too much empathy, love or compassion, so if they need attention from you, it's a good idea to give it and listen, because otherwise they will just get the attention from places that can't teach them the things we want. It was a very long audiobook - it was maybe an hour in when I then started listening at 1.5x speed and slowly ramped up to 2.0x speed. I finished the book in 3 days. BOOM - exhilaration, I want to try it again.
Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly by Evy Poumpouras
I had recently watched a podcast with Evy Poumpouras on DOAC (Diary of a CEO). I liked the way she told stories, so I was so happy to learn that her book was available in audiobook format. Again, I started at 1.5x speed and stayed there because she was a fast speaker to begin with. This book covered so much it's hard to encapsulate it in just a few words. My takeaways from this book was; be a good listener, keep fit, protect your surroundings, stand up for yourself, call people out but also there is no shame in walking away depending on the situation, you can tell when someone is lying when their 'pattern shifts', focus on one task and give it 100% commitment. I made a note to research 'paralinguistics' - sounds interesting. The sounds, amplitude, tone in which we speak has a big impact on how it's received - that seems like common sense, but was interesting to learn about how each tone effects the outcome.
$100M Leads: How to Get Strangers To Want To Buy Your Stuff by Alex Hormozi
I heard about this book from an Ali Abdaal video. I was intrigued as to why it has so many review. Good thing it has an audiobook version. Press Play and... woah! this guy talks fast, ok, slow this one down to 1.2x speed. What I learned from this audiobook: Not all books are to be consumed via audio. I made a note that I need to get the kindle or physical version of this book - because it was packed with so much data that I felt like all I was listening to were numbers being read out loud. My brain is not wired to receive this type of information in this format. I listened to the whole book regardless to see if it was something worth taking the time to actually read. I made a note - yes, but with no urgency.
Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking by Mehdi Hasan
How did I not know that Mehdi Hasan has an audiobook....press PLAY. Yep, he's also a fast talker, need to slow this one down too!
I know Mehdi Hasan from his epic debates that I watched on YouTube and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. He had actual clips of audio from his examples which made it all that more engaging. He talks about so much that it would take writing a book just to cover the book, but my highlights; don't underestimate the power of 3, research and keep receipts, humour works, deliver your facts with emotion, know your audience and connect, eye contact is important, listening is even more important. He also describes the correct paralinguistics in which to deliver a speech or talk in a debate. He also covers how to call out a 'gish galloper' and why it's important to cover both sides of an argument. Now that I'm reviewing what I remember from this book, it occurs to me that I've probably missed out so much...so I'll need to relisten to this one again.
The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran, Michael Lennington
This one was a highly rated book and a quick one. Had to ramp this one up to 2.0x speed. I don't think I really "understood" this book. Essentially, instead of having a 1 year plan, you want to have lots of 12 week plans with goals that accomplish the overall plan. So instead of getting overwhelmed and procrastinating the beginning of the year, have more manageable, attainable goals and refresh them every 12-13 weeks. I guess it's just a bigger version of the 3 tasks a day method. I think the 12 week approach might work in some businesses and industries, but I'm yet to see how this might work in a personal setting.
George Orwell's 1984, adaptation by Joe White
I read this book years ago and I saw that Andrew Garfield was playing Winston in this adaptation. So glad that I came across this, it was well delivered, the music, sound effects, everything was spot on. I could listen to it again. It was like as if I was transported and living in the book. Would recommend listening to this version.
Conclusion
Audiobooks have changed everything. A happy side affect from this experience is that it's stopped that incessive scrolling and time wastage. My mind is being fed and fuelled, which has snowballed into a cascade of productivity and motivation. I wake up every morning with excitement of what I am going to learn and what I will achieve.
Onwards...